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Sunday, 1 July 2012

1883 magazine interview: Emun Elliott

Emun Elliott
has made a name for himself as the gravelly voiced, dashingly dishevelled
lothario of some of the most innovative and unorthodox projects in television
and cinema. One of his most recognisable roles is the intriguingly damaged,
sole male character in daring lesbian drama Lip Service, along with a softer
but equally unusual stint in BBC sitcom Threesome.

Now, with
parts in the shield-shatteringly successful Game of Thrones and the cosmically
massive Prometheus, he’s swashbuckling, smirking and snogging his way to the
top in a string of increasingly adventurous and challenging roles.

1883 met him
in a dusky pub near West London’s Little Venice district, where we sipped
strong coffee and talked blood, sweat and spaceships.

What got you
interested in acting?I think it
was English, reading and books. I went to university to do English Literature
and French. I got involved in plays and things like that, but never really saw
it as a full time profession. I realised though that I could do whatever I
wanted to do – I didn’t have to go to university and follow the yellow brick
road. I just wanted to do something that made me happy. So I packed uni in
after a year, went to drama school, got an agent and started working.

What was it
like working on something as vast as Prometheus?Well when
you get over the staggering part of being offered the job, you know you’re
going to be working with Ridley Scott and that’s the first thing you have to
overcome. Things like this can be a good thing or a bad thing. If you let it
get on top of you, it could ruin you. Being daunted by a person, or a type of
film, or a budget can be a hindrance, so you have to savour these moments when
they come along. When I got offered the job it took a bit of time just to get
my breathing back.

What’s the
best set you’ve ever worked on?It has to be
Prometheus! I don’t think I’ll ever be somewhere that bizarre again in my life.
On that set you really are on another planet, or in a spaceship, or wearing a
spacesuit. When you walk onto the sets, there’s actually not a huge amount of
green screen being used, a lot of it has just been built. It’s got Ridley Scott
written all over, and that’s what he’s good at, creating worlds.

Do you
actively seek out controversial roles?I’d be lying
to say I wasn’t drawn to interesting characters, I’m sure every actor is. But
it’s just what comes along to be honest. A mistake you can make as an actor is
trying to carve out a career for yourself. Really what you should do is make
the best of what comes along.

Your
character Jay in Lip Service is really interesting…It was a
great script, I’ve never read anything like that before. Jay certainly has a
bit of edge to him, which is always exciting to play. Essentially what I was
employed to do was go on set everyday and create as much mischief and trouble
as possible, so he was a lot of fun to play.

What do you
have coming up in the future?A film
called Filth, based on the Irvine Welsh novel, which will probably be out in
2013 at some point. I’m working on a new BBC drama called Paradise. It’s set in
1875, so Victorian England. It’s a corrupt tale of capitalism and lust. It’s a
sexy Victorian drama.There’s also
Labyrinth, a TV project I shot in Cape Town that’s being produced by Ridley
Scott, which comes out in November this year. It’s a big sprawling epic tale,
based on a novel by Kate Mosse - that’s the author not the model. I play a
French chevalier called Guilhem du Mas. I basically go around just killing and
making love to everything I see.

Sounds fun…It’s definitely
got a bit of edge. Lots of horseriding and swordfighting. Lots of blood and
sweat.

Did you do
your own stunts?As much as
they would let me, but for the really hardcore stuff they had to pull someone
in.

Just to put
you on the spot, what’s your favourite film?One of my
favourite films is The Talented Mr Ripley. You have to love Matt Damon’s
character, but Jude Law puts on an amazing performance.

What’s the
best thing about being an actor?That’s a
good question! As an actor it kind of feels like you can constantly step in and
out of different personas, different lives and different worlds. I could go
from being an astronaut, to a school teacher, to a junkie, to an Italian
shoemaker in the space of a few months, and that’s the most exciting thing. That’s
what keeps it fresh. It great for someone who enjoys change and variety. It
helps me to remember that I’m alive.

Prometheus
is out now and Labyrinth is set for release later this year.Words by
Dylan B JonesPhotography
by Inga Liningaan Langkay

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